9. The Baby isn't Mine

The floorboards creaked under Antonio's feet as he paced back and forth in his room, unable to shake the feeling of confusion and disbelief. Valerie Foster had rejected him—at the hospital of all places, right after she gave birth to their child.

Okay...the baby wasn't actually his, but so what? His name was attached to him now, accidental or not. He was his son now. Because he had already claimed him to be!

"Can you believe this?" Antonio muttered to himself, throwing his hands up in the air. His heart raced with anger and frustration. And a bit of sadness. "I offered to make her son legitimate. And she just...rejected me."

He couldn't comprehend it. The pieces weren't fitting together in his head. How could she turn down such a generous offer? It felt like a slap in the face.

He had never wanted to get married and had never cared about having children, but he had thrown himself out there. For her.

"Unacceptable!" he growled under his breath, clenching his fists at his sides.

"Bene," Antonio said aloud, determination coursing through him. "I won't give up just yet."

He believed that once Valerie was back at his brother's house and feeling healthier, she might have a change of heart about his proposal.

"Maybe she was just scared," he reasoned, trying to understand what had gone wrong. "She needs time to adjust."

He thought back to the hospital when he first held the baby in his arms. The warmth of his tiny body, his small fingers curling around his—it was a feeling he couldn't describe. A sense of fatherhood washed over him, solidifying his love for this child. He hadn't even known he was capable of such feelings.

Strange concept...love was. He had never thought he'd love something, let alone someone. He hadn't even known what love was until...

Until he held that tiny human in his arms. As soon as the baby opened his eyes to look at him and gave him that tiny smile, he knew...he knew what love meant.

"See?" Antonio murmured to himself, picturing the moment vividly in his mind. "I can be a good dad. Valerie just needs to see that."

"Who're you talking to?" a voice cut through his thoughts, making him jump.

"Jesus, Sam!" Antonio exclaimed, turning toward his right-hand man, who had snuck into the room without him noticing. "Don't sneak up on me. I could've shot you in the face!"

"Sorry, Capo," Sam grinned sheepishly. "But seriously, what's going on? You've been acting weird ever since you came back from the hospital."

"Nothing," Antonio said grimly. "What news do you have for me?"

Sam gave him a rundown of how his businesses were going, but Antonio barely listened. His mind was occupied with thoughts of the child and the mother. He had proposed to Valerie Blackwood on a whim so he wouldn't have to let the child go, but now that he thought about it, he wouldn't mind having her as his wife either.

She had a fiery attitude that matched the color of her hair and those intense green eyes that seemed to pierce into his soul. And her lips...those full pink lips...

He wanted to bite them.

"Enough," he muttered to himself, trying to stop daydreaming.

To distract himself, he decided to go check on his grandmother. She had raised him and was the only living relative he had left. No one could understand him better than her.

"Nonna?" he called out, turning the corner to find her sitting in a cozy armchair. Her fingers worked nimbly, knitting a small scarf of some sort.

"Ah, Toni, my darling," she smiled gently, her eyes twinkling behind her glasses. "You look troubled, nipotino. What's on your mind?"

"Nonna, I need your advice," Antonio said, his voice cracking slightly. "Valerie...she rejected my proposal."

Her eyes crinkled in confusion. "Valerie? Who is that?"

Right...he should've started from the beginning.

Antonio took a deep breath and sat down on the floor beside his Nonna's chair. She continued knitting, her needles clicking rhythmically, a comforting sound that had always soothed him as a child.

"Nonna, there's this woman... Valerie. She just had a baby, and there was a mix-up with the paperwork at the hospital. My name ended up on the birth certificate as the father."

His grandmother's eyebrows shot up, but she didn't interrupt. He continued, "I thought it would be a good idea to propose to her, to make things right, you know? But she turned me down."

Nonna paused her knitting, her sharp eyes studying him. "Toni, amore mio, you can't force someone to marry you, especially not in such a situation. And you say the baby isn't yours?"

"The baby isn't mine," he replied.

"Then why do you want to adopt it, amore mio?" she asked, confusion evident on her face.

He shifted uncomfortably. "I... I don't know, Nonna. When I held the baby in my arms, I felt something I'd never felt before. A sense of responsibility, maybe even love. But..."

She put her knitting aside and reached out to cup his face with her wrinkled hands. "Toni, you have a good heart. But love isn't something you can rush or force."

"Hmph..."

"Sometimes, Antonio, life doesn't go as planned," Nonna continued softly, resuming her knitting. "But if your intentions are pure, then perhaps this Valerie will come around."

Antonio's mind wandered back to the moment in the hospital, holding the baby girl and feeling her tiny fingers curl around his. He smiled. "Yes, you are right."

"Of course I am right," she nodded, her eyes never leaving her work. "Just remember, love takes time and patience. Don't force it."

"Grazie, Nonna," he whispered, his heart swelling with gratitude. He knew what he had to do now.

She finally looked up from her knitting, a small smile teasing her lips. "Now, Toni. Care to tell me how you came to sign the birth certificate by accident?"